WILLIAMSBURG — Colonial Williamsburg will commemorate the restoration and dedication of the historic Williamsburg Bray School site at 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1, on the Lawn of the Art Museums at Colonial Williamsburg.
Lonnie G. Bunch III, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute and founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture will be the featured keynote speaker.
Other guests speakers include Justice John Charles Thomas, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia and its first Black justice; and Virginia State Senator Mamie Locke.
Tours of the building’s interior will allow a limited number of guests to see a main-floor room, restored and appropriately furnished, and an adjacent room, in the process of restoration, providing a rare opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the restoration process.
The dedication will be followed by a reception, community art projects, entertainment, and a series of panel discussions and interpretive programs in the Hennage Auditorium.
The school was relocated from its original location on the campus of William & Mary to its new home at Colonial Williamsburg in February 2023 with ongoing restoration efforts since.
The building is believed to be the oldest extant building in the United States dedicated to the education of Black children.
Through a partnership with William & Mary’s Bray School Lab, the site will enable scholars and interpreters to probe the complicated story of race, religion, and education in Williamsburg and America.
Following the event, the building will be closed to finish the remaining interior work with plans to fully open in the Spring of 2025.
This event is free and open to the public.